Apple has released Time Machine and AirPort Updates v1.0 via Mac OS X's Software Update utility and on the Web. According to the company, this update is recommended for all users and includes compatibility improvements for using Time Machine with Time Capsule, as well as AirPort driver fixes. Time Machine and AirPort Updates v1.0 requires Mac OS X 10.5.2. The download weighs in at 10.4MB.

[Update:] Apple also released Time Capsule and AirPort Base Station (802.11n) Firmware 7.3.1. According to the company, the Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n Firmware 7.3.1 updates include bug fixes. The AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n Firmware 7.3.1 also includes security fixes and support for Time Machine backups.

Wow, it does work! I plugged another one of my drives in and bingo. I don't know why it didn't see the first drive, but I'm a happy camper now. Kudos to Apple for coming through on this. I also feel like a genius for retuning a TC now.

Wow, it does work! I plugged another one of my drives in and bingo. I don't know why it didn't see the first drive, but I'm a happy camper now. Kudos to Apple for coming through on this. I also feel like a genius for retuning a TC now.

This update alone could prompt me in to purchasing an Airport Extreme. The Time Capsule was a bit out of my budget, particularly considering I already have a few spare USB drives, but this might do the trick.

I feel the same way. The Time Capsule sounds like a nice product, but I already own a few nice external drives. It was also a little out of my budget at $300 dollars.

Don't ask me why, but my shared computers are now showing up properly in the Finder after these last few updates. I've been having a problem with them not showing up consistently since upgrading to Leopard.

Good news indeed. I know that it's early, but I wonder why Apple hasn't made note of this on their website? I don't see anything at this time. Could this mean that it will be an unsupported feature? That isn't a huge deal, but we are talking about moving around and backing up important data here. This might also say something about the reliability one could expect from using this feature with the regular Airport Extreme Base Station.

I don't know why it didn't see the first drive, but I'm a happy camper now.

I had to totally erase and reformat my drive (even though it was HFS+) for it to work. It's working fine now, albeit very slow. I think this first backup is going to take at least a couple of hours to finish.

Good news indeed. I know that it's early, but I wonder why Apple hasn't made note of this on their website? I don't see anything at this time. Could this mean that it will be an unsupported feature? That isn't a huge deal, but we are talking about moving around and backing up important data here. This might also say something about the reliability one could expect from using this feature with the regular Airport Extreme Base Station.

It does seem a little strange that they didn't acknowledge this over 24 hours later. I could be wrong, but there still doesn't look to be anything talking about this on their website.

Any ideas if this will work on external HDDs attached to Macs? I'm using my Mini as a server for a MacBook - it would be nice not to have to move the HDD every time I want to backup. It worked in the Leopard beta. I'm downloading now.

BTW, I was really calling Apple on abusing their market position by creating a new, expensive product that an Airport Express or Mac could do just as well. Guess I was wrong. Still, if Apple had just said, "wait a few months; we're working on it," a lot of Mac users wouldn't have gotten pissed.